


Alternate Nightmare

by Crimson_Mori



Category: Outlast
Genre: Alternate Universe in which Waylon is the crazy one, Eddie is a good boi, Im just practicing being a writer, I’m new to this, M/M, Please don’t kill me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-05-20 12:17:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19376545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimson_Mori/pseuds/Crimson_Mori
Summary: So basically, Waylon is the crazy one and Eddie is normal. Well....normal..ish. I’m just trying out my writing skills and yeah...soo...this is Outlast Whistleblower, but Eddie is the protagonist.





	1. Whistleblower

The end of the sentence started it all. Suddenly a knot formed in Eddie’s stomach, as he gazed at the screen of the borrowed laptop. Before he came here, he had never used such advanced technology.  
He was used to his old computer in his clinic, but over the past few months he had adapted to the new electronic devices more or less.   
His crystal blue eyes darted over the email address of the investigating reporter once more, before another peeping noise made his stomach sink. His trembling hands quickly grabbed his mug to sip on his tea whilst his eyes darted around the empty laboratory. 

“Doctor Gluskin !?” A muffled voice called from somewhere down the hall and Eddie quickly placed his mug down, almost smashing it as it hit the counter top. Quickly, his index finger smashed down on the key which read ‘enter’ before, he smacked the screen against the keyboard. The laptop let out a small, yet painful cracking noise, before Eddie heard the door swing open beside him.

The co worker sighed and huffed, before regaining his composure. “Doctor Gluskin, we’ve paged you several times already ! There is something up with the medical stuff down at the morphogenic engine.”

Eddie kept his poker face on, as he pushed passed the man. “I’m on it.” He barely even heard that the man asked him about the reason of his delay, but Eddie didn’t feel the need to answer. 

He made his way down the hall and passed the security, before he was right in front of the thick and enormous metal doors. An officer stopped him and sighed. “Where have you been, Gluskin ? They are all waiting on you !” He scolded as though he was in the position to do so, whilst the door opened and Eddie passed him without uttering a single word. 

“Ah, Eddie-“

“Doctor Gluskin.” Eddie corrected Steve in a stern manner. 

“Right, Eddie,…” He mocked his name. “The fluids cause a stage four, Medullary Paralysis. One of the patients has died on us. I’m sure you’re very capable of fixing this problem, yes ?” Steve asked, with a smug smirk. 

Eddie didn’t look at him, he just watched as the lifeless patient was roughly removed from the pod and dragged out. He was more than capable of fixing it, but the longer he had worked at Mount Massive, the more he had grown to hate himself for it. The first months were fine, all he did was check on the medical supplies, as well as offer his therapeutic skills to a set of patients, he had been assigned to. However once he gained more security clearances, a bigger pay check and more freedom to move around the facility without anyone questioning him, the more he felt disgusted. Not only with himself, but with the Murkoff Corporation.   
The contract forced him into so many situations he wished, he’d never dealt with. His morals didn’t matter anymore, at least not to his employers. As for Eddie, he tried to cling onto them as best as he could. 

And now once again, he was forced to play his part, before the Corporation would make him one of the ‘problems’ around here.  
Eddie walked towards the security door and let the officer in charge pat him down before he put on the hazmat suit given to him and waited for the door to open after being decompressed.   
He proceeded down the stairs and gazed at the huge engine and its tubes, bright lights, obnoxious things that were moving around on the screens and finally the medical system.   
His blue eyes darted over the information, before he sighed and lightly shook his head, wondering if he was the only capable doctor in the entire asylum.   
The dosage of the anesthetic was first of, way too high and second, it was set for halothane.   
The halothane, only made the patients unconscious but if the dosage was to high it would send them into a stage four paralysis straight away. Like any other strong anesthetic.  
Eddie clicked away and deleted the command, before he typed in the command for the tube to be switched to the mepivacain anesthetic. It would leave them fully conscious, but at least interrupt the nerve system long enough, so they would barely feel a thing for at least a few hours.   
It wasn’t much, but all Eddie could do. He didn’t want to end up like the people inside of those tanks, but the more he typed away on the computer keys, the more he prayed for the reporter to arrive within a day or two. He would be Eddie’s salvation and he didn’t even know it yet.

“Ugh they are bringing him in….” Steve said over the speakers but Eddie didn’t lift his head to look, he just gazed at the heartbeat sensors and checked the REM scanner. 

“No stop ! STOP !” A familiar voice yelled as it was tugged down the stairs with firm hands and loud banging noises of the patient stomping his foot onto the metal steps. Eddie tried to drown it out, he didn’t want to be part of it, so instead he checked the other dosages of the fluids to make sure the patient wouldn’t die this time. 

“Please ! Please ! Stop ! I don’t want to be part of this !! They promised me-…DOCTOR GLUSKIN !!” The voice screamed, forcing Eddie to turn his head but before he could make out who was calling him the patient crashed into him, forcing him against the screens. Eddie quickly regained his composure and turned to the barely dressed patient.

It was patient 2536.

Waylon Park.

Waylon tugged on Eddie’s hazmat suit, almost tearing it open whilst gazing up at him with big brown eyes. They were puffy. Red, from crying and a glossy overlay of tears made his eyes glimmer in the bright lights. He was visibly shaking and goosebumps were all over his exposed skin, the only thing he was wearing were some white boxer briefs which must’ve caused him to be extremely cold down in the lab, Eddie figured. 

“Please ! Doctor Gluskin, you can’t let them do this !!” He begged, his voice cracking and exuding extreme fear. 

Waylon was one of Eddie’s favorite patients and to see him in such distress made his heart ache in sorrow as well as anger. He remembered their talks about the murders he had committed, the voices in Waylon’s head, as well as the fear Waylon had about the walrider project.

When he first met Waylon he would not utter a single word, but just sit in silence, gazing out the window, occasionally brushing his dirty blond hair or sniffing a bit. But then Eddie began reading letters to him, those that Lisa Park, sent almost everyday and Waylon seemed to enjoy hearing from his sister. Of course, he wouldn’t say a thing, but his shy approach onto the love seat would turn into a determined strut. His arms weren’t holding his legs up to his chest anymore in some sort of a protective way, but instead he rested his head on the big armrest and gaze out the window. Occasionally, Eddie would even catch Waylon smile at snippets written by Lisa. 

Waylon started to trust Eddie. 

So after every reading session and just doing his work, whilst Waylon sat or napped in the chair next to him, close to the window, Eddie would write a long letter to Lisa, asking her to possibly send some pictures her children drew and just report about the normal things of her life, as well as the lives of her children. 

-x-

“Lisa attached two pictures to the letter…from Henry and Dylan, to their uncle Waylon..” Eddie said, as he rolled his chair over to Waylon and showed him the funny yet beautiful and fantastically colorful pictures, drawn by childrens’ restless hands. 

Eddie gazed up at Waylon, his piercing blue eyes watching as the young man’s face softened up and smiled gently. Waylon took the pictures and gazed at them for quite some time, before handing them back to Eddie.

“Do you want me to hang them up next to the window…?” He asked carefully. 

“……yes..” Waylon said softly and for the first time he gazed up at Eddie with big brown eyes and a subtle smile on his lips. 

-x-

From then on Waylon started to talk more and more. He got better everyday, so when the admission to the Walrider project came, Eddie felt anger rise in his stomach. He remembered smashing the ‘decline’ stamp onto it so hard, it could’ve torn through the paper.   
But he calmed himself eventually and searched for his supervisor. Jeremy Blaire. What a prick. If the name wasn’t already and indication, for the ridiculousness and douchbageness this man exuded, then Eddie didn’t know what was.   
After an argument of several minutes, Blaire finally let Eddie have his way, so seeing Waylon tearing at his clothes, with bruises around his wrists and puffed up eyes made the doctor more than furious. 

He barely even realized that he had pushed Waylon behind him and was pressing his back against the smaller man, whilst standing tall as the masked personnel in their blue suits approached him. 

“Doctor Gluskin, we must ask you to stand clear of the patient.” One said, voice muffled by the gas mask. 

“Absolutely not !” Eddie growled, feeling Waylon’s small hands firmly hold onto the back of his blue suit. “Park was supposed to be discharged by the end of the month ! Get. Blaire. Right. Now.” He spoke through gritted teeth. 

“Eddie, calm down, old boy.” Steve called as he came down the few stairs and held his hands up in front of him, indicating that he meant no harm. 

“Back off !” Eddie snarled.

“You’re not allowed to make these kinds of decisions, Eddie. Would be bad if I mentioned an outburst like this in my report right ? I’m not sure if a Psychologist and Doctor prone to anger issues is any good. But you know I’m a good guy right…” Steve added as he placed one hand on his heart and tilted his head to the side, continuing to inch his way towards Eddie and Waylon. 

Eddie wanted to puke. What an utterly disgusting human being Steve was. It made him sick. Sicker than he already was.

“So….stand clear of the patient and we’ll just forget about it, alright…?” Steve added, a smug smirk on his obscene face. 

Eddie was so angry and tensed he barely noticed, that Waylon had placed his face in between his shoulder blades and whispered to him.

“Save me…please…Eddie…”

He could only make out little, the blood rushing in his ear made it hard to hear. But he knew what he had to do. In a matter of seconds Eddie’s fist firmly smashed into Steve’s face as time started to go on in slow motion, a cracking noise and a scream of agony was all the noise Eddie could pick up for the moment, before Steve was on the floor, holding his broken nose. 

And suddenly time ran three times as fast as it usually would, some people backed off, before Eddie felt two needles prick his side and electro shocks instantly ran through his body completely tensed him up and sent him to the floor with a loud thud. He felt like a tree that was cut down and all he could do was lay on the floor and watch as Waylon knelt down beside him, crying and too afraid to touch him.

Eddie felt as though his entire body was cramping up more than humanly possible, before his body finally relaxed after five long unbearable seconds. 

“Ah there you are Mister Gluskin !” Called a voice through the speakers and it could’ve been no one else but Blaire. “Looks like someone’s been telling stories outside of class. Did you really think a borrowed company laptop would guarantee you’d get out of this without anyone noticing..?”

Eddie couldn’t lift his head, not yet, he was too sore and his eyes fixated on Waylon who was crying and gazing at him in a helpless manner, before some of the scientists approached him and dragged him off. His screams echoed in Eddie’s ears until they were muffled by what Eddie could only assume, being tubes shoved down his throat. 

“Don’t touch him ! Get your fucking hands off of him !” Eddie growled through a sore throat. 

“That’s really stupid, Mister Gluskin. Even crazy, Mister Gluskin. I believe we’ll have to have you committed…Mister Gluskin, will you willing like submit to forced confinement ?...Did you hear that everybody ?”

“He said yes, Mister Blaire.” The people in the room echoed, forcing Eddie to let out a low growl.

“Oh and did I just hear Mister Gluskin volunteer for the morphogenic engine program ?” 

“That’s what I heard, Mister Blaire” An officer agreed as he walked into Eddie’s line of view.

“That is brave, indeed, Eddie. The Murkoff Corporation and the onward march of science both appreciate your bravery and sacrifice !” Blaire cheered over the speakers. “Now officer, why don’t you give Mister Gluskin his light anesthetics for the day.”

Eddie clenched his teeth together and tried to get up as he watched the officer stomp towards him but he wasn’t fast enough. Extreme pain made itself at home in his gut, before another kick smashed his head into the ground, causing everything to fade away.


	2. A horrible awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie awakens from his slumber, now he must make his way to the prison to radio for help !  
> Will he ever find his crazed Princess Waylon ?

Eddie felt as though his body was not yet his and his mind had been summoned long before his limbs were starting to function again. He let out a low growl, as he was tossed into a chair and strapped down. His body still hurt from being tazed, it was sore and aching, as if he just ran a marathon or spent an entire day at the gym. 

“Wakey, wakey, Gluskin..” A voice called. 

But Eddie couldn’t, he was drained, wondering what they had done to him, whilst he was out cold.

Smack.

Eddie’s eyes ripped open, his cheek burning and tingling after being back handed.

“What’s the matter ? Somebody hit you ?” The person asked and Eddie’s eyes instantly sought out the source. Once his eyes had fully adjusted he could make out Andrew’s face, causing him to frown in anger. 

“Here, let me help you..” Andrew said, as he licked along Eddie’s sharp jawline all the way up to his ear. 

“Damn pig..” Eddie growled, desperately trying to move his head away, but felt it strapped down tightly.

Another smack flew across his face and then Andrew’s attention was drawn elsewhere.  
Eddie’s cheeks stung horribly, though some relief washed over him, as the scientist faded out of view. At least he wasn’t being molested by that creep anymore, though the traces of saliva along his jawline still made his skin crawl.

However, now that Andrew was gone, he realized that he was left alone in the cell, forced to watch the engine burn itself into his mind. His first instinct was to try and get loose from his restrains. He was quite masculine and built, so he certainly wasn’t lacking strength.  
But a quick glance at the metal restrains made him realize, that unless some miracle would be bestowed upon him, he wouldn’t get out. Faith in miracles however, wasn’t really something Eddie believed in.

So, he was stuck. 

Maybe if he found some rest, he could force more energy into getting free, but time was of the essence. Eddie knew what effect the engine had on some patients. He had seen what it did to their psyche. However, Eddie’s mind was not frail, at least not yet. Maybe if he watched the Morphogenic engine long enough, he’d loose his sanity to it. It didn’t sound so far fetched after all. No one was going to come and save him anyways. If the reporter made it here in time, he’d likely happen to go missing as well. Just another ‘problem’ to be dealt with. The black haired man could already picture Blaire acting all inviting, chatting up the reporter and luring him into a trap. 

Eddie frowned. Now that his plan of silently exposing Murkoff had failed, he’s also going to be responsible for an innocent man being forcefully administered to the Morphogenic Engine program. 

He tried to think of something else, something that could occupy him for a while or ease him into slumber to regain some energy and then plan out his escape - if he managed to keep his sanity by the time Andrew or another scientist came back to retrieve him- but the flashes of light and sudden movements on the screen irritated him. Where could his mind possibly go with those distorted images floating in front of him ?

He needed something to concentrate on. Something his mind could cling to. 

Just then Eddie remembered his mother, her beautiful dresses and the way she would hum old songs when she was sewing. Her gentle hands brushing his messy black hair, before lifting him onto her lap to help her sow his Plushy Sheep’s arm back on.  
Her hands carefully guiding him, but then something twisted came into view. Those weren’t his mother’s hands anymore. They were absurdly long and bones pierced through blood covered skin and flesh.

Eddie quickly shook his head, waking from the micro sleep.

So, thinking of good things was definitely not an option. He didn’t want the engine to taint his fond memories with foul and horrendous images.  
Now he was really running out of options, all that was left to do was watch or try not to. He wondered wether this were going to be his final hours. Strapped to a chair, watching some contorted images on a huge screen and eventually being dumped into a pod with tubes all over him. 

Now he was just another patient. 

For a split second, regret began to wash over him again. If he would’ve just kept quiet, he wouldn’t be strapped down and forced to watch the engine, until his brain turned to mush. But then again, if he would’ve turned a blind eye, others would have to endure the torture, until Murkoff found whatever they were looking for in the subconscious of a human being’s mind.  
Eddie sighed, irritated with himself already. He knew it was the right thing to do, he knew that this man named Upshur would come. How could he possibly resist such a scandal ? He was a reporter after all and wouldn’t he be drawn to it like a moth to a flame ? 

A subtle sigh left the masculine man’s lips again, forcing his eyes to shut and try to blur out the strange images of the engine. 

Well, at least he would hopefully be, one of Murkoff’s last victims.

-x-

Eddie finally jolted awake when the pressure around his wrists and head subsided. The screens suddenly turning off in a split second. Finally able to avert his gaze from the engine, he did just that, but the images had already burned themselves into his mind, eating away at his sanity. He pressed his face into his palms, rubbing his eyes rather firmly. The power was out. The screens were off, but the images did not fade.

He needed to leave, get out, breath real air and asses the damage his mind had taken. However when he tried to stand, his consciousness began to fade in an out, his eyes unable to focus. He stumbled, incapable of staying on his feet and smashing right into the wall of screens, slightly crushing one of the monitors in the process. Eddie growled, as he landed on the floor, but despite his lack of energy, he forced himself to stand again. Hesitant feet, finally finding their footing on the cold floor.

“You hear that too, don’t you ?” One of the patients asked frantically, whilst smashing his fists against the hard, isolation glass that separated them, drawing Eddie’s attention straight towards him.  
The doctor watched, as some sort of ghastly darkness appeared behind the deranged patient. 

“Oh no ! OH NOOO-“ The inmate screamed, eerily rising into the air and remaining there as his body began to bloat, until it finally bursted into gore.

Eddie flinched, eyes wide in disbelief at the bloody mess that was left. He felt his stomach turn, dry heaved a few times, as his eyes couldn’t stop staring at the massacre. What the hell had just happened ? What in the world had torn this man apart ?  
Eddie shook, hands trembling, whilst his feet carefully slid across the floor towards the camcorder, that was used to film him. Whatever the hell had just shredded the other patient, might still be in the room and the doctor couldn’t see it. He fumbled around on the camera, until he figured out how to use the night vision. Shaky hands filming the room, but nothing was there anymore.  
It seemed like Lady Luck was on his side for once, at least that’s what Eddie told himself to feel somewhat better over what had just happened.  
With the camcorder in hand, Eddie pushed on, trying his luck at the door but it was still locked. 

“For fucks sake..” Eddie muttered, he wasn’t a man who usually cursed much, but then again, he also wasn’t the type of a man who’d be ready to expose an entire Corporation and yet he did. It wasn’t like the situation really allowed him to be his normal self, he needed to survive and that was his top priority. 

He gazed down at the camcorder and then at himself. Of course they had stuck him into the uniform of an inmate. Eddie certainly wouldn’t look like a trustworthy source if his recordings were found, nor would he look like a sane human being, if he was lucky enough to encounter an officer who didn’t belong to this damn company.  
So, if he ever managed to escape his cell, he’d certainly have to change attire. 

Once again, the tall man’s attention was drawn elsewhere, when the door to the observation room flung open. By now his eyes had adjusted to the dimness of the room, so he could clearly make out the patient, who was scanning the cells. Maybe he was Eddie’s ticket to freedom ? Could he convince the deranged man to open the cell for him ? 

The man finally stepped in front of the doctor’s cell and grinned rather deviously.

“My little flower….so…sweet…to devour..” He slurred through his deformed mouth, before marching towards the main console in the back of the room. “You stay right there…..I’ll be with you in a few seconds..” He added, as he wobbled all the way over to the console at the end of the room, trying to figure out the buttons and what they did. 

Eddie’s eyes widened, that crazy person was going to kill him, if he let him enter his cell. So the moment Eddie noticed the door decompressing and opening just a little, he bolted out of the room. Shutting the door with a loud slam, almost missing the noise of the door locking back in place.  
Feeling a bit more energized from the sudden burst of adrenaline, Eddie began to analyze his surroundings. 

He was in the hospital block, that he could tell, by the plastic strung all over the walls and the ceiling. Now, with patients roaming freely and the sirens flooding the hallways, the situation in the asylum seemed to have gotten quite out of hand, to say the least. What on earth had happened whilst he was strapped down to the chair, he did not know, but there had to be other people who could help him find out for sure.  
The doctor proceeded to march down the corridor, with smells of decay hitting his nose every now and then. He was thankful that he had never been too sensitive to smells, but it didn’t make him feel more at ease about the current situation.  
He had been in the hospital block before, mostly to switch between his attires and get some medication for some of his regular patients, but he had never seen this particular part of the facility and it wasn’t like he was handed a map of the Asylum when he got the job. He simply knew that Mount Massive was, well, massive. However in his short time here, he only roamed around level 3 security clearance, which didn’t really give him much freedom. It just meant more guards and more people staring down his neck, whenever he had to assist or share intel on a patient.  
Nonetheless, Eddie was never too shabby at navigating without a map or intel, so he proceeded, until his bare feet turned the corner and almost slipped on something wet. He managed to catch himself in time, but he couldn’t shield himself from the horror in front of him. The floor and walls were lined with blood and intestines, the grotesque smell of flesh, iron and feces invaded his nose almost instantly. The icy blue eyed man needed to take a second, feeling rather disgusted, as he forced his feet through the wet and fleshy mass that covered the floor. 

Keen on leaving the Hospital area already, Eddie turned to a rather quick strut, recording as much as he could and finally avoiding most of the chaos by dodging into a side room. With a bit of force, he pushed a cupboard in front of the door, blocking it off for good, before scanning the room.  
It must’ve only been a small break room, cause the only other furniture were some chairs, a counter and another cupboard, likely filled with reports. Something else that stood out, was the fact that the vent had been forcefully torn open. A desperate attempt to escape maybe ? It mattered not, at least not now. 

Eddie sat the camcorder down on the countertop and began to rummage through some drawers, picking up some batteries and painkillers, which he placed next to the cam. As happy as he was over his findings and given the situation, he really couldn’t carry any of it with him. So he sighed, looked at his attire and began to unbutton the beige jumper, just enough to reveal the green shirt underneath. With the top half of the suit now draping around his waist, he lightly tapped his lips with his index and middle finger, before grabbing ahold of a stapler. A primitive tool to his sewing skills, but he had to make due. He stapled the sleeves of the jumpsuit and then pushed them in, a quick way to make decent pockets, at least until he got to the changing room.  
Storing away most of his findings, Eddie picked the camcorder up again, gazing at the vent just above the counter.  
It wasn’t like he had much choice in the matter, he had blocked off the door, so into the vent he ascended. Making himself as small as he could, the man began to crawl through the tight, dark space until he began to hear muffled voices in the distance. In a hurry to make out what the people were saying, Eddie began to crawl faster, trying to make as little noise as he could. When he could finally make out two Murkoff employees through a grid in the vent, he stopped and directed the camcorder at them.

“….bad idea. We get out of here through reception and let Murk Tactical clean it up.” The security guard said, pointing somewhere Eddie could not see. 

“If they get here in time. We need help now ! If we get them on the radio, the National Guard could be here within-“

The guard suddenly placed a hand on the other man’s shirt, seemingly inching closer to him in a threatening manner. “We don’t even know if the radio works !” 

In an attempt to win the argument, the man in the suit smacked the guard’s hand away. “It’s short wave ! If the prison’s got electricity, then they’ve got a signal. And the lights are on !” 

“Murkoff has it under control !” The guard muttered, in a low voice.

The suit guy scoffed. “Yeah, I noticed ! Look we need to get to that radio.”

“Listen,” The guard started, once again cornering the other man. “Outside help doesn’t come without outside attention. You want to take responsibility for every legally shaky thing you did on the Murkoff company payroll ? I know I don’t..” 

The security guard then moved out of view and Eddie quickly followed along the vent towards another grid. 

“It’s too late to worry about that. This just has to stop !” Eddie heard the suit guy plead, before he stepped into view again.

“You’re scared. You’re not thinking straight. Let me make something clear. You try to radio outside for help, I’m gonna give you a whole new something to be scared of.” 

Another scoff and sound of disbelief from the suit guy. “Are you threatening me ?!” 

“Yes.” The security guard replied sternly. 

Eddie sighed and crawled on. Now engaging with other staff was another threat to his survival, like it wasn’t already enough that most of the violent patients seemed to be running around freely.  
The doctor kept on crawling, until he finally managed to find a safe room to drop into. Regaining his balance and pushing forward, he once again entered another hallway. He was careful not to engage with the patients, as they cowered in corners or blankly stared into nothingness.  
Managing to get through one of decontamination chambers, Eddie found himself near an entrance/exit which seemed familiar. His feet picked up the pace, jogging towards the door, past a few corpses and reaching out for the handle in a determined manner. 

Not a chance. Of course not, why would it be open ?

Eddie’s level of anger rose, as he began to slam his body against the door, but it just didn’t give in. 

“Fuck !” He cussed, kicking over a plant and pacing around the exit until the engine began to flash in front of his eyes again. He felt dizzy, sick and disoriented for a second. 

So in an attempt to regain control, the icy blue eyed man stopped his pacing and sat down on a chair, the smell of death and the sight of mangled corpses barely affecting him at this point. All he wanted was for the images to stop fluttering around in his vision. Eddie was a professional, he just had to remind himself of that.  
Breathing in and out, shutting his eyes and repeatedly telling himself, that he was fine. That at least suppressed the engine, for how long he did not know, but at least he was able to think clearly again. 

Now what he needed was a plan. 

He fumbled around in his makeshift pocket, placing another battery in the camcorder and tossing the empty one aside, as he looked back into the hallways. He came from the one to the left, the wing in which he had never worked since his employment at Mount Massive. At the beginning, he mostly worked with the less severe cases of patients. Then, after Blaire had deemed him ‘useful’, he was assigned to the ‘Project Walrider’-patients and even allowed to suggest patients for the project. An offer Eddie never took to heart, which he was very glad about, once he got clearance to see what they did to the patients in the underground lab. Declining that offer must’ve made Blaire distrust him quite a bit, since he wasn’t allowed in the part of the facility, which he had just escaped from. Not that it mattered where he was and wasn’t allowed to go now, with all the patients roaming around freely and the entire asylum in an emergency state.

Eddie shut his eyes for another moment. He needed to get out and get help or radio for help and try to sit through this madness. Considering most of the exits were likely blocked, by staff who didn’t want the chaos to spread to the outside. He’d have to escape through either, the reception or scale the fence for a convenient opening. However roaming around the fence would first off, take too long and leave him stranded in the woods. So the reception it was. He could access that area through the vocational block or the administration block. The vocational block sounded like a better option, considering the fact, that he could call for help on his way there and hopefully escape unharmed. Despite the fact that it would be a quicker path though, it was also the more dangerous one. Without the guards taking care of the prisoners, they likely began to spread all over the facility. Letting out their anger on staff and other patients.  
If Eddie was lucky enough and no maniac would be able to kill him, he still needed to leave before Murkoff’s Mercenaries arrived. Once they’d get here and end up catching him, he’d be detained and likely sent to another facility…or maybe just turned into another casualty.

Eddie’s eyes opened again with determination. He pressed on almost immediately, rounding the corner to enter the right wing. It had to be the block, he mostly accessed whilst working and if that was correct, he shouldn’t be far from the cafeteria and changing room.  
The dark haired doctor forced the already partially open door, of the decontamination chamber, open and proceeded.  
For a change it was a lot more calm in this wing, most of the power was out, which made Eddie rely on the camcorders night vision mode, mostly. He collected a few more batteries on his way, bypassing various barricades, until he finally managed to locate a map. He took a good look at it and analyzed it. The kitchen actually wasn’t far from where he was. Just a few more turns.  
Eddie proceeded - though the sound of some saw made him stop in his tracks, then screams and more sawing, until their was silence again.

Were these patients sawing each and everyone into little pieces now ? Eddie sighed, hesitation washing over him, before his determination was able to step in. He needed to keep going. There was no turning back, no laying down and dying. Not until Murkoff got what they deserved. 

The dark haired man kept going, his ears picking up on a noise that disturbed the quietness once more. Uneasiness crept up on him, the moment he inched closer to the kitchen. There were strange noises emitting from the room, the broken down door letting it flow out. At first he couldn’t tell what it sounded like, just that it didn’t sound….right. Not that there weren’t other sounds or anything. There was the buzzing sound of the freezer, as well as something boiling – and from the smell, Eddie could tell, it was certainly something meaty. 

However, the other noise that made the doctor rather uncertain about entering at all, was vicious in a way. Irregular and low. 

Eddie had to stop in his tracks when he turned to his right to enter.

Faced directly with the source of the strange noise.

Vicious sounds of someone chewing away at something wet and meaty, combined with grunts of pleasure and heavy breathing in the darkness. 

He didn’t know what happened first, wether he turned his camcorder towards the source of the noise or if his eyes darted towards it almost immediately.  
It was a man, average height, rather skinny with grey hair, which messily fell to his shoulders. Besides that, Eddie found himself unable to make out much more, since the man was covered in blood and well….savagely feasting on a corpse.  
It was, horrible to say the least. The way the dead body twitched and moved, when the man would shove his face into its abdomen and rip the flesh right off. 

The fact, that there were three metal tray wagons between them, made Eddie feel at ease in someway, even if they didn’t offer much protection. Since they were mostly tipped over and if Eddie made any sound, that cannibal could simply leap over the barricade. Nonetheless, Eddie wasn’t going to wait until that man noticed him. He slid his feet over the floor, creating as little friction and noise, as he could and entered the freezer. Eyes unable to fully lift themselves from the direction of the cannibal. So focused, Eddie didn’t fully take notice of what was hanging on the meat hooks, until he squeezed through the cadavers. Human cadavers. 

His face twisted in disgust, as he made it through and out of the cold. Quickly shaking off the feeling of utter revulsion, Eddie continued. 

Once again the saw roared to life and the blue eyed man felt goosebumps rise along his arms. If he wanted to get out of the cafeteria he’d had to slip by that maniac. Eddie just hoped, that the corpse he was feeding on, was distracting enough.  
Walking through the back of the cafeteria was easy, since he wasn’t anywhere near the saw wielding patient, but the closer he got, the more thought out his moves became. His free hand patting down some of the dead officers for a stun gun or something, but he was out of luck. Even more so, when he tried to pass the cannibal at the food hand out window and got brain matter splattered all over his clothes. 

“What the…” Eddie stuttered, the ringing of the microwave interrupting him. 

“Don’t look at us ! I love him…” The cannibal growled, before chewing away at the now, decapitated corpse. 

Eddie did not hesitate to get away, leaving the cafeteria behind in a heartbeat. Now all he had to do was head for the changing room. He knew where to go exactly, so it wasn’t long, before he found himself in it. Once again he was quick to barricade the door. He didn’t need to get shanked, whilst changing or have that buzzsaw wielding patient make him, his next meal.  
Despite blocking the door, Eddie double check the room and placed a small tin in front of the other exit.  
He eagerly washed off most of the gunk and blood in the sink, quickly checked himself for any injuries he might’ve missed, due to the kick of adrenaline in his body and then headed towards his locker.  
Eddie wasn’t even surprised when he saw that it had been opened with a crow bar and most of his belongings tossed into a cardboard box. But it also looked like the officer in charge of doing so, got interrupted midway through it. What was once a face, was long gone, battered away until the crowbar itself got stuck in the mush of bones, flesh and blood. A wide pool of red had partially stained and dried into the wooden floorboards, so the man must’ve been dead for a while already.  
Eddie had to thank whoever killed the officer, as morbid as it sounded. After all, it did prevent the man from getting rid of Eddie’s belongings. 

He changed quickly, too on edge to waste any time at this point. Tossing his patient attire off, before slipping into his black trousers and navy blue button down shirt combo. Next were his suit shoes, which he tied rather fast, given the fact that he wanted to spare himself any further skin contact with any brain matter, intestines and whatsoever. He buckled his belt and then picked up his watch, strapping it to his wrist. 

12.02. a.m.

Not much time left until dawn, since he still needed to get through several blocks. 

Eddie rolled the sleeves of his shirt up and then rummaged through the locker, trying to find his wallet and car keys and when he couldn’t find them there, he turned to the cardboard box. 

Jackpot ! 

Everything was still there. He wanted to take his bag with him, but reconsidered, when he thought about it. It could end up getting him killed or tangled if the leather strap got caught in a chase. But he needed something else to carry things in. A short gaze at the dead body, gave the doctor a rather convenient substitute. He removed the officers hip pouches and attached them to his belt instead. All prepped and ready to go, Eddie took one last glance back. The crowbar could come in handy. It would certainly enable him to choose faster routes. 

So it was decided, pulling the tool out of the corpses head in quick succession, before he continued out of the changing room. 

He knew where he had to go now, his surrounding becoming more and more familiar. Still, Eddie took an occasional glance at the map and according to it, the best way was to cut through the morgue. The door was blocked off when Eddie arrived, some poor soul handcuffed to the door and blocking it from opening. However it mattered not, the crowbar solved the problem with one good pull.  
Eerily enough, the morgue was quiet and dark. If it wasn’t for the chaos, Eddie would’ve assumed it to be normal, but now it made him uneasy. He passed most of the cremation chambers without giving it much thought, since all of them weren’t in use. 

“Fresh meat !” The door next to Eddie swung open with a loud bang and the buzzsaw wielding cannibal tossed himself at the doctor. 

Eddie tried to catch himself in time, but his opponent managed to shove him against one of the cremation beds. Forced to let the camcorder and crowbar drop to the floor, Eddie grunted and with all his might tried to keep the deviously spinning saw away from his face. 

“Time is up !” The patient chuckled, as he put more pressure onto forcing the saw down. 

Eddie struggled, heart pounding through his chest, the veins in his arms almost pulsating through his skin. He wasn’t going to die. No. This wasn’t going to happen. Not like this.  
He kicked out, his foot hitting the cannibals shin and causing him to back off, as he grunted in pain.  
In a matter of seconds Eddie located the crowbar and swung it at the patient so hard, he was sure he heard a crack. 

Then the buzzsaw stopped and the cannibal simply gazed at the icy blue eyed man. A low chuckle escaped the crazed man’s lips and then blood started to pour down from his scalp, over his face and slowly seeped into his already stained beard.  
Eddie was frozen in place, limbs trembling and his hands grasping the crowbar so hard, he could’ve sworn it was about to break in two.  
The cannibal began to walk towards him, in a rather drunken manner but before he was anywhere near Eddie, he collapsed onto the cremation bed. Causing it to slowly roll into the chamber, whilst his feet dragged along the floor.  
Why he did, what he did next, Eddie did not fully comprehend. Maybe it was the shock of the near death experience or the abnormal amount of adrenaline pumping through his veins, but he proceeded to fully stuff the cannibal into the chamber and burn his body. 

It was self defense. 

That’s what he kept on repeating in his head, whilst his blue eyes blankly stared at the chamber and his nose picked up the now familiar smell of burning meat. 

He did what he had to do. He had to make sure the cannibal wouldn’t come after him again. 

Right ?

Still trembling, Eddie picked up the camcorder, shakily reloaded the battery and continued on. His feet seemingly guiding him without needing input from his mind. Because when Eddie finally managed to shake himself out of his daze, he was in the staff elevator. Finger hovering over the second floor button. He pressed it and then leaned back against the wall, his heartbeat slowly coming back down, whilst the elevator ascended. 

He had just actively killed someone. He had occasionally wondered, if he could do such a thing, more so after he started to work for Murkoff and began to interact with some of the criminally insane. Never once did he actually believe he’d ever have to fight for his life and kill others, to secure his own survival. Eddie was glad, that the kick of adrenaline numbed him a little. However he knew, that if he made it out alive, he’d need lots of therapy himself. 

The doors opened and Eddie made it halfway out of the elevator, before he heard a gun cocking and then a light completely blinding him.

Shielding his eyes from the sudden and unpleasant beam of brightness, with the hand that held the crowbar, whilst the other one quickly disappeared behind his back, to stuff the camcorder into one of the pouches. It couldn’t have been the Murk Tactical Team already, right ?

“Gluskin ?” A female voice called out and instantly the light went off with a click. 

The doctor had to blink a few times, trying hard to make the blotches in his vision disappear. But once they did, he found himself face to face with Helen Grant. Eddie had only met her a few times, during his first week, in which they only shared casual conversation. She was in the Legal Mitigation department, if Eddie remembered correctly.

“…..Miss Grant…it’s good to see another friendly face..” Eddie said, trying as best as he could to sound trustworthy. 

“Yeah….likewise..” She uttered, as she lowered her gun and adjusted her glasses. Her brown hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, her once purple blouse, decorated with dark red spots, along with her grey skirt. “…..thought that you had been assigned to the morphogenic engine program ? I must be misinformed, yes ?”

Eddie hesitated for a second. Of course. Blaire must’ve assigned her his resignation. Wether her loyalty laid with the company or not, he could not tell. However, now that she had revealed to him that she knew of his misstep, there was no point in lying to her. He guessed, that if he played his cards wrong, she might end up stabbing him in the back. Maybe not yet, but likely the moment they’d make it to the reception. 

“I highly doubt that it matters now, Miss Grant. If I may suggest, it would be best if we stick together and head for the reception.” Eddie replied, as he stepped out of the elevator and looked around the dimly lit hallway. 

“Yes, of course..” Her soft voice responded. 

Grant’s hazel eyes lingered on Eddie for a while, before she turned and started to walk beside him. She likely didn’t trust him. He couldn’t blame her, the feeling was mutual.

“Just a bit further and we’ll reach the airlock. The staircase should take us to the recreation area.” Grant said, her heels clicking along the floor, as she walked and pointed. 

Eddie did not reply, only walked next to her. He was considering the possible dangers they would encounter, once they moved closer to the prison and wether she would agree to contact outside help. He just knew that if she didn’t agree with calling the police, he’d have to knock her out or stop her, before she would be able to stop him. After all, she was the one wielding the gun. Where’d she even get it in the first place ? Eddie wondered. 

“You….seem preoccupied…given the situation I can understand…but…I’d feel a whole lot better, if you’d say something.” The tanned woman said, her hand briefly pressing against the interface of the airlock. 

For a few seconds Eddie just gazed at her, blue eyes scanning the woman and her body language. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, gun and flashlight tucked away under her upper arms. She was anxious, stressed. That’s what Eddie read in the way her body moved. When is eyes rose to her face, he noticed the dilation in her pupils, as her eyes met his. Interesting. The expansion of the pupil always meant some sort of affection, wether it was superficial attraction or a deeper sense of affection. He could use that. Maybe even pick her brain to sway her into a sense of comfort around him. It was manipulative – yes, Eddie was quite aware of that, but after all that had happened to him up to this point, he felt rather reluctant about trusting Murkoff employees. He would treat her with a healthy amount of distance, but he couldn’t stop his psychological training from slipping out. 

“….I’ve seen and done terrible things up to this point…Every time I watched someone die or hid whilst another man was killed, I felt….glad that it wasn’t me.” Eddie sighed, as the doors to the airlock finally opened and both of them stepped in. 

“I’ve felt the same way…I was working in my office when the alarm went off. I wanted to leave, immediately once I heard, that something went wrong down in the lab, but an officer stopped me. I was told to remain calm and wait it out. Eventually, I got tired of waiting around, so I headed for the main security office, but when I arrived….” Hellen stopped, shut her eyes for a second and let out a long sigh. The chamber decontaminating them and then shutting down, as the door to the staircase opened. Letting in a fresh breath of air. “…everyone was dead..just…blood…everywhere. I….I armed myself with a gun…….I’ve….I have killed people. I was just…trying to survive…just..trying to defend myself..” 

Eddie reached out to her, his free hand gently squeezing her upper arm. “….Miss Grant…it’s going to be alright.” He said, gently caressing his way up to her shoulder. “We’re going to get help and get out of here…”

“Yes…though I have my doubts that Murkoff will let us leave, if we manage to survive…we’ve seen too much…” The brunette replied, making no attempts to brush Eddie’s hand off. 

Surprised by her doubts, Eddie’s grip became firm on her shoulder, as he lightly shook her to raise her spirit. “Please, Miss Grant. I need you to remain calm and focused.”

The hazel eyed woman nodded and gave the doctor a half hearted and faint smirk. 

Not the ally Eddie had expected, but certainly a relief to his situation. Now, the two of them just needed to make sure, that they survived to see the end of this nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh sorry for the delay, I was struggling with either sticking to the game’s story line or slightly changing it. 
> 
> Anyways ! 
> 
> I honestly can’t wait to let the crazy out with Waylon. 
> 
> Oh and Helen Grant isn’t an oc. She was mentioned in Waylon’s Resignation in the original, so I thought it was fun to bring her to life and well....I needed someone Eddie could talk to. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed it ! I promise the moment Waylon comes in, things are gonna be spicyyy ;)


	3. Down the drain

The doctor stepped out first, leading the way through the narrow pathway, whilst Helen’s clicking heels followed behind without hesitation. 

“The fog is awfully heavy..” Grant said, once they reached the end of the staircase and found themselves in the courtyard of the asylum. She then proceeded to turn her flashlight on and shine it around, in a sad attempt to enable them to see further than six feet in front of them. 

Needless to say, it was pointless. 

So the two stuck close to each other and kept in proximity of the fence. Once they made it into the park, Helen began to hold onto Eddie more often, with the uneven terrain causing her to occasionally get her heels stuck. Despite that, she pushed on, never once uttering a noise of frustration or anger. 

“……care to share what you know ? About this whole thing…” She suddenly asked, as their eyes met for a few seconds, whilst Eddie helped her dodge through a hole in the fence. 

“My best guess is, that a patient reached the final stage of lucid dreaming….and by doing so, ended up summoning the Walrider ..” Eddie answered, as they began to follow a paved pathway.

She arched her brows in confusion, stared at Eddie for a while and then let out a long breath. “You can’t seriously believe that to be true, Doctor Gluskin….I mean…summoning a folklore creature that…that is insane...” 

Grant was right. It did sound insane, but from what Eddie had seen, it didn’t seem so far fetched anymore. After all, they’ve put these patients through hell. Who knows what depths their frail minds descended into, as they were forced to watch the engine ?  
Eddie himself didn’t want to know what damage it had on him. No psychopathic behavior yet, nor any urges or mood swings. All he could diagnose was the imprint of the images, as well as some moderate to heavy headaches. Then again, he was only exposed to it for a few hours.   
He didn’t even want to imagine, what was going on in the patients’ heads, whenever they were pulled out of the tanks and tossed back into their cells. They suffered in ways, he could not even imagine.

“I’m assuming, that you’ve seen and encountered various horrors up to this point, Miss Grant….taking that into consideration, makes it sound less insane, doesn’t it ?” Eddie simply replied, as they reached a crossing. 

“……Fucking Murkoff….” She whispered, under her breath, before she pointed to the left. “If we head this way, we’ll be in the vocational block in no time.” 

The brunette quickened her pace, as she climbed the short set of stairs and entered the area. Eddie followed. The two soon approached the entrance and Helen instantly reached for the knob. She twisted and pulled but it didn’t budge. 

“Fucking hell !” The woman growled.

Boom !

Whilst she had been busy trying to get the door, an inmate came rushing down the hallway. Slamming himself into the door and grinning at the woman. 

“You ! I’ll kill you ! I’ll kill you !” He laughed, fist bashing against the glass, whilst the other twisted the door knob.

 

Helen shrieked, stumbled back and thankfully landed in Eddie’s arms. He aided her in finding her footing again, whilst the two of them slowly backed off. The crazed man proceeded to stare, desperately twisting the door knob from the inside. What had at first filled the woman with rage and Eddie with desperation, now made them both feel at ease, as they backed out of the area again. Never once breaking eye contact with the inmate, until he was out of sight. 

“…..Let’s…Let’s try the other door..” Grant suggested breathlessly, as she headed towards it. Her exposed skin littered with goosebumps.

A padlock blocked the door, but it was nothing that either one of them couldn’t take care of. 

“How many bullets do you have left….?” Eddie asked, whilst he aligned the crowbar to hook into the shackle of the lock. 

The woman adjusted her glasses, then gazed at the pistol and let slide back to her side. “Three…maybe four..”

With a firm thrust, the lock popped off and Eddie pushed the door open. “…..I guess we better not waste them then..” 

Helen nodded and followed behind the doctor. The area was decorated with corpses, awfully twisted and some even dismembered. Both felt less talkative, as they tried their best to stay focused on their objective. They checked the doors, but all of them were completely blocked off from the inside or the outside. Out of possible routes to pursue, Grant eventually scouted out a few balconies, from which they could descend into the lower levels, since there was no way they were getting up in any way.

Eddie hopped down first, slightly bouncing against the chain-link fence, before he turned and looked up at the legal mitigation officer. 

“If I may be so bold, I’d suggest you drop those heels, Miss Grant.” Eddie called up to her, respectively keeping his eyes on her face, as she knelt near the edge. 

”If you give my feet a good rub, whenever they are cold and stiff, then I’d be happy to oblige.” Helen joked, whilst she held out her flashlight, for Eddie to grab.

Despite the horrible situation, Eddie had to admit, that he found it remarkable how she found the energy to humor him. It was nice, refreshing and made him feel a bit less tense. Even if it just lasted for a small chuckle. He placed the flashlight down on the ground, before grabbing the pistol and placing it on the ground as well. 

Helen quickly slipped off her heels next, tossing them aside rather carelessly. 

“Ready ?” She asked and the blue eyed man nodded in response. 

She hopped off the edge and Eddie caught her, giving her enough support for a smooth landing. Helen then reached for her flashlight and shone over the lower area. In the mean time, Eddie had already descended and explored a bit further than the beam of light could reach. 

With a subtle grunt and the noise of bare feet, hitting the concrete Helen followed. They wandered through a small tunnel and then reached a ladder, neither one of them really knowing where it would take them. Eddie climbed up first, his head peeking around the area, making sure there were no crazed inmates around. It looked clear, only a few rancid picnic tables decorated the section of the prison courtyard. Apart from that, the doctor couldn’t make out much, the fog was still heavy despite all the floodlights. When he heard Grant climb the ladder, he aided her once again by offering his hand and pulling her up. 

The two partners proceeded, once Eddie broke off another padlock with his crowbar. The chain-link fence passageway was confusing at first, neither one of them being able to make out where which direction would lead, so they simply had to stick to whichever way wasn’t completely blocked off.

It was awfully silent, despite the fact that it was the prison courtyard. However, Eddie did notice an unusual rhythm as they walked. He could hear Helen’s bare feet in front of him, his own shoes of course, but there was something else. Another set of feet. Maybe two ?

“They look nervous..” A low voice suddenly said, causing both Eddie and Helen to look around to find the source, automatically inching closer to one another. 

“I’d like to kill him.” Another voice replied, somewhere in the fog.

“What about her..?” The other asked and Helen frantically began to shine her flashlight around.

“We’ll keep her….use her…kill her…”

Just as Grant managed to catch one of the men with her flashlight, the beam began to flicker and then perished.

“Fuck !” Helen cussed, smacking the flashlight in hopes to shake some more light out of it, but it was futile. 

However, for as long as the light lasted, it did provide them with an image of a naked man, holding tightly onto a machete whilst watching them through the fence. 

“….Helen…go..” Eddie whispered, with enough terror in his voice for the both of them. 

They quickened their pace, cutting through the fenced areas, whilst also trying to stay vigilant, against their silent assailants. Just when they thought they lost them, the two men appeared out of nowhere, casually walking into the section of the courtyard and watching them eagerly. 

Grant instantly aimed up her pistol, but Eddie stopped her. 

“What are you doing ?” She whispered angrily, but was met with silence. 

Eddie just began to silently push her behind him, before grabbing ahold of her hand and slowly moving towards the door the two men just emerged from. Sticking to the wall, whilst keeping an eye on the psychopaths. The moment they made it to the door, Eddie slowly pulled it shut and proceeded to gently push Helen, animating her to walk.

“How…?” 

Eddie shrugged, heart rapidly pounding against his chest, unable to form words after witnessing the eerie method those inmates used to scare them.   
He barely even noticed that they had reached the basketball court, until Helen pulled the creaking door open. However, it wasn’t until Helen shrieked, that he was pulled out of his horrified daze again. A head was laying right in front of her, blood having been splattered onto her feet, as it slammed to the ground. 

“Spoilsport !” A slurred voice growled. It was an inmate, barely looking human at this point, his skin had sunken in, exposing the shape of his bones underneath his leathery skin.

With a loud thud, Helen threw her useless flashlight at the inmate. “Back off !” She hissed, but more inmates began to emerge from dark corners, marching towards them in an almost inhumanly calm manner. 

“Go !” Eddie commanded, which on cue, made the legal mitigation officer sprint towards the next door. 

The icy blue eyed man followed, knocking some of the inmates out with his crowbar, if they came too close. But their fast pace came to a stop when they had to ascend another ladder. Hellen went first, climbing as fast as she could, but when Eddie’s turn came, he felt himself being yanked back by an inmate. Receiving a solid blow to the face and bumping into the chain-link fence, the doctor had to take a second to find his bearings. The inmate, however, did not back down in his vicious attack. He firmly reached for Eddie’s throat and began to squeeze, as Eddie tried to recover.   
In an instant panic, set in and once again Eddie felt his heartbeat rise drastically, adrenaline rushing through his entire being. Suddenly, all that was on his mind once again, was that he needed to do whatever to survive. He wouldn’t perish, not yet.   
The dark haired man tried to go for a swing with his crowbar, but as much as he pulled, he could not raise his weapon. Was something blocking it ? Eddie tried again, as the grip around his throat became a lot firmer, his face turning visibly red. Not a chance, his weapon did not move. The doctor risked a short glance down, confirming that it had gotten caught in the chains of the fence. Out of options, Eddie rapidly let go of it, trying to pry the inmates hands loose with his own, but his vision was strangely narrowing. Like a tunnel, which became smaller and smaller. His ability to resist becoming dangerously low.

And when his vision was about to fade into complete darkness, it suddenly turned crimson with a loud bang. 

It must’ve only been a few seconds, before the echo of the shot perished, but it felt like several minutes.

Eddie took a deep breath, sucking in as much air as he could, whilst he slowly sank to the floor. The hands were gone, but the dangerous touch still lingered. The icy blue eyed doctor felt bits of gore and blood drip down the side of his face, however, he was still shaking too much to move. He needed to just breath for a couple of minutes, until this light headed feeling along with the adrenaline rush ceased. Eventually once he got ahold of himself, he wiped his face from the blood of the inmate and yanked his crowbar loose, before gazing up at Helen. 

“…..are you okay ?” Her lips mouthed. She must’ve called it out loud, but the noise of the bullet being fired still played in the doctor’s head, rendering him unable to hear properly for a couple of moments.

“…..yeah..” He replied, getting back up, despite the sharp aching in his head. 

The confrontation shook the masculine man a little, but the further up he got, the more he managed to cope. He kept on reminding himself that, if it wouldn’t have been the inmate, then it would’ve been him. There was no way he could’ve let that happen. Not that his life was worth more or he felt no more empathy for these deranged people, but simply because his fear of death was too great. He had already done the unthinkable. Killing another man to make sure he would prolong the span of his own life. The problem, however, wasn’t that he couldn’t cope, he had come to terms with what he had to do to survive. It didn’t really make the killing part easier though. Unlike a murderer, Eddie felt no joy nor any pleasure in hurting the inmates and patients. There was just the urge to survive and the kick of adrenaline, that made it less harder to actually strike them down. 

“Eddie…? Are you really okay ?” Helen asked, her hand gently brushing over the doctor’s back, as he stood up straight, after having climbed all the way up. 

Not intending to raise both of their stress level any higher, Eddie gave her a weak smile. “Yeah, thanks for saving me.” 

Grant gave him an equally subtle smile and nodded. 

The two once again marched on in silence, along the seemingly endless walkway. After quite a bit of walking and climbing ladders, both Eddie and Helen took a second to rest in a guard post. The tanned woman took a seat and warmed her feet near the still humming heater, whilst the doctor raided the medicine cabinet. 

“Any stress relievers in there ?” Helen asked. 

“No and even if there were, I wouldn’t hand them to you.” Eddie replied, whilst he soaked a cotton ball in alcohol and wiped down his neck, slightly flinching when the liquid rubbed along some open wounds. The inmate must’ve really dug his nails into the doctor’s neck as well.

“Can’t blame me for wanting to zone out of this nightmare, can you ?” She added.

Eddie finished tending to his wound and stuffing the rest of the medical supplies in the pouch on his hip, before turning to gaze at the legal mitigation officer. “I can’t…but we still have a long way to go and not much time, so I’d prefer you to be focused instead.” He explained, before he picked up his crowbar and placed his hand on the door handle.

Grant jumped up and stretched, reached for her gun and nodded at Eddie. 

They entered the door opposite of the guard post, in which they had just taken a short break in, finding themselves right back in complete and utter chaos. Inmates rushed down the hallways, but Helen and Eddie proceeded, with less hesitation. More willing to engage in confrontation, now that they were so close to their goal.  
The two of them made it down to a crossing rather quickly and spotted a room with the label ‘security’. Both hurried towards it and entered. 

“The radio !” Eddie called out eagerly, as he headed further into the security room. “We can call the police down in Leadville !” 

“Yes, do it !” The brunette cheered, following right behind the doctor. 

Eddie took a look at the radio, relieved that it was quite an old one and he knew how to operate it. He twisted the channel knob, pressed a few buttons and held onto the speaker, anxiously waiting for a signal.

The radio crackled for a bit, until finally the voice of an operator came through. 

“Leadville 911, what’s your emergency ?” The operator asked calmly. 

Eddie had just about separated his lips, when a firm grip on the back of his shirt pulled him back. He stumbled, falling back and hitting his head on a cupboard, before a firm smack against his temple, with a blunt object, almost sent him into unconsciousness. 

“What are you doing ?!” He heard Helen yell, whilst he tried to make his vision clear up. 

But Eddie could only lie on the ground, head buzzing and the engine entirely washing over him. The strange images floating around like a kaleidoscope in front of his eyes. He couldn’t succumb to it, not now, not when he was so close. His brain pulsated, causing him to feel as though his skull was about to burst.

The next thing Eddie heard was a loud crash, something breaking and being smashed to bits, whilst Helen grunted and yelled. 

“Have you gone completely mad !?” 

“Miss Grant, you seem to get really cosy with anyone who is willing to help, huh ?” Blaire’s voice chuckled. “Such a shame, I was going to invite you out for dinner, sometime..”

“Back off you bastard !” She hissed back.

Eddie could make out two figures struggling, as he shook the images from his mind and managed to regain control. He tried his best to sit up, but his head was still buzzing furiously. 

And suddenly two shots went off.

There was silence for a few seconds and then the ground began to vibrate. 

“Do me a favor and die here, Gluskin !” Blaire spat, as he swung again with his baton, Eddie dogged in time, but it strafed his nose nonetheless. 

The doctor quickly got on all fours, as he heard Blaire run off. He couldn’t just let him get away. Eddie knelt over his crowbar, as he tasted blood in the back of his throat and in a matter of seconds, the red liquid began to drip from his nose. His fingers hastily wiped it away, but it simply kept on coming. Less concerned over the broken blood vessels in his nose, Eddie tried to stand, not giving his body much time to recover. His first attempt was met with failure, but he managed to stand on wobbly legs on his second attempt. 

“Helen..?” He called, whilst moving to where she was kneeling. 

She gazed up at him, visibly in pain, whilst her right hand clutched her stomach. Blood was seeping through her fingers and drenched her purple blouse, just below her rib cage. 

“Oh…god…Helen….” Eddie uttered, as he leaned down to apply more pressure onto the wound with his own hand. “…C’mon, we’ll get you to a nurse station..” 

Helen shook her head no, took a deep breath and let out a small whimper of pain. “…I’m not gonna make it..” She whispered back at him, hazel eyes welling up with tears. 

“Yes, you-“

Eddie was cut off, as suddenly opposite from where they had entered, the door began to break down. A few loud smashes and suddenly it was no more. In it’s place a massive patient. He was tall, at least 6’9” or taller, muscular but more in a burly and fat way and something was just wrong with his face. Eddie couldn’t tell at first, but once the giant approached the lit room, he could make out several deformities. The beasts nose had been mutilated to the point of no longer existing, it also looked like he had peeled away his skin on his forehead rather viciously. The thing that made Eddie feel even more uncomfortable about the massive man, was the way some metal wires, pulled his mouth so far open, you could see both his upper and lower set of teeth. It was eerie. 

“Fucking pigs !” The mountain of a man growled, as he stomped towards them. 

The doctor reacted quick, grabbing his crowbar and tossing it right at the giant’s head, stunning him instantly and forcing him back. He rapidly grabbed Grant by her waist, once again pressing his hand against hers to force more pressure onto the wound. Though he wished, he could’ve been more delicate, he could not risk waiting for the giant inmate to regain his balance. The two squeezed by, Eddie running and dragging Helen along. The beast was in hot pursuit, huffing and growling behind them, but Eddie kept up his adrenaline fueled run. When he noticed Helen’s feet merely dragging on the floor, he began to carry her bridal style, sliding over obstacles and throwing his shoulder into any closed door. It wasn’t, until he had to push Helen and himself through a narrow path, that the beast of a man ceased his hunt. 

“C’mon Helen…stay with me..” Eddie whispered breathlessly, as he tried to navigate in the dimly lit room. 

His progress came to a halt, however, when he stumble, forcing both Helen and him to fall to the floor. 

Helen barely made a noise anymore, not even as she hit the ground. Panic slowly crept up on Eddie and he crawled to her in a hurry, propping her up against a wall and lightly shaking her to get a response. 

“Helen…hey ?” He whispered, before he brushed the few loose strands of hair from her face. 

“….promise….promise you’ll make it out….” Helen muttered through her dazed eyes, barely able to hold eye contact with the doctor. “…..expose Murkoff…tell..tell everyone what they did….please, promise me….I don’t want to die, knowing these fucks will get away with what they did to us…what they did to those patients..”

Eddie hesitated for a bit, still set in his ways, that he could save her. But part of him knew he couldn’t. She was already starting to get cold and her lips and under eye area had already turned a subtle shade of purple.

“I promise..” He whispered back, which caused Grant to smile one last time, as she gently patted Eddie’s hand. 

It didn’t take much longer, before she stopped moving all together. For a while, Eddie simply gazed at her and held her hand. He wasn’t a believer, never once prayed to a god, but right now, he wished for her to find peace wherever she was. 

Once Eddie was able to focus on his task again, he got up and moved on. He turned a corner and peeked through a gridded door, able to make out a rather familiar face. 

“Martin ?” Eddie muttered, pulling his camcorder back out and finally recording again. 

The self proclaimed priest stopped painting the wall, with what Eddie could only assume was blood, to look at the icy blue eyed man. 

“Doctor Gluskin !” He smiled. “You needn’t be afraid, Doctor. You are doing his work…”

Eddie raised his brows in confusion and recorded what the old man was scrawling on the wall. “His work ? What….” Eddie felt a little insane himself for a second. Was he really going to ask a crazy old man, what he was rambling on about ?

“Yes…his work…you’re one of the apostles he sent, yes ? The both of you carry the needed means to fulfill his gospel..” Archimbaud replied, as he pointed at Eddie’s camcorder, before turning back to his writings.

The black haired man gazed at the priest for a bit, until it dawned on him. “The reporter, where is he ?” Eddie asked, as he tried to establish some eye contact with the patient, but Martin would not look at him. “….Father Martin….please, I must find the other apostle…” Eddie said, lightly placing a hand on Archimbaud’s shoulder and turning the old, chubby man, to look at him. 

Archimbaud only hesitantly met the doctor’s eyes, before pointing down at a hole in the floor. 

Eddie took a look at it, reluctant to drop down at first, but a gaze back at the patient, assured him he would find no more answers here. So he simply dropped down, easing his fall by bending his knees to absorb some of the landing. It wasn’t until he rose to stand up and stretch a little, that the soreness of his muscles made itself known. He had solely been running on adrenaline, fear and the need to survive, so it wasn’t a surprise when he heard his stomach growling just a little. However, Eddie didn’t really know if he could touch any food after what he had seen so far.   
It didn’t really matter anyways, food certainly wasn’t a priority at the moment, for the doctor. He proceeded to walk down a hall and took a detour into another security office.   
He stacked up on some batteries and then moved towards a sink, near the medicine cabinet in the room. Eddie took a good look at himself, noticing the sever subconjunctival hemorrhage in his right eye, as well as the bruising on his temple and around his neck. He was about to reach for his lower lid, to pull it down a little, when he realized how sticky his hand was. At this point he could not tell how much was from him, from Helen or from some of the patients and inmates, just that the blood had seeped into every little crack in his hand. Eddie quickly turned the water on and washed his hands, using the soap provided, as well as some disinfectant. He then proceeded to clean his face, as well as rinse his nose from the dried blood. After drying his hands properly, he looked at his eye again. It certainly looked horrible, but at least it did not alter his vision in any way, though he still wished he had some eye drops to at least cleanse it a little. 

The doctor popped a pain killer, just to be safe, picked up his camcorder and left the office.

It was silent when he first exited the room, but then he felt the floor shake again, just a little. 

Then the sound of familiar chains.

“Pig !” The seven foot tall beast growled and instantly charged at the doctor. 

Eddie bolted into a full sprint down the winding corridors, as the giant chased him. He leaped over obstacles and turned corners as fast as he could, ending up in a straight corridor which seemed to go on forever. 

Yet Eddie’s panic meter increased by a thousand, as he realized, that the hallway ended in a dead end. Frantically, he began to pull at the barricade, trying to move the metal bed frames and maybe find a way to squeeze through. He was about to force his body into a small opening, when he felt a firm grip yank him back, then a single hand wrapping around his throat. That was it. He was dead.

That was his end. 

Eddie felt his feet lift off of the ground, as he was pulled back by his throat. It only took a second for him to feel the force, that the beast mustered up to throw him. He barely felt any resistance from the window glass as it shattered, before he skidded over the roof and landed down on a paved path.

The doctor just laid on the ground for a couple of minutes, maybe more, he couldn’t tell. All the nerves in his body were screaming at him not to make a single move, but he did not obey. He couldn’t. He forced himself to roll onto his stomach, before trying to get on his hands and knees. A sudden urge to cough overcame Eddie and so he did, in between his constantly fading vision, he could make out some blood on the concrete. Well, he certainly was grateful that he survived, but his body ached, as if every single limb had been broken. He was in no condition to receive another blow like that. He knew, if he wasn’t careful, the next patient could simply overpower him. What his body wanted, was to rest. Just for a bit. Maybe recover some energy. However, Eddie’s mind forced its way, to getting him to sit up on his knees at least. Eddie took a few long breaths, before he looked around. He quickly spotted the camcorder and crawled towards it, to retrieve it. The screen was a little cracked, but thankfully it still worked. 

Eddie forced himself to stand, as his eyes began to tire. Bad move on his behalf, because he was back on his knees in seconds. He sat back, rubbed his eyes, tried to shake the blackness from his vision along with the constant pressure on his brain and tried to stand again. He tried using his hands to prop himself up, only to notice the scuff marks littering his arms, along with a few pieces of glass. He pulled out as many little shards as he could, realizing that a few more had penetrated his back. It hurt like little needles being forced into his skin, but he felt too exhausted and way too unsanitary to start nursing himself. The doctor took another breather, this time he actually managed to keep himself propped up for a couple of seconds, until he took his first step which almost tripped him again. But he managed – barely.

The fog outside had subsided, which made it easier for the doctor to see, as he limped around the yard. Once again he came up on a chain link fence and pulled the door open. His free hand clinging to the wall as he descended the stairs and walked through a narrow passage way.   
At this point Eddie was no longer surprised by barricades, he simply looked for a way around them and that’s exactly what he did in the underground passage. He forced his body over some broken fencing into the water drainage system. The small drop was enough to get Eddie to his knees again, drenching his pants almost all the way up to his mid thighs in murky water. The doctor grunted in pain, firmly grabbed the fence and forced himself back up with some heavy breaths. He proceeded to follow the pipeline and eventually resurfaced in another park. To his right was the vocational block, in front of him some block, he couldn’t make out. However, by using his camcorder to zoom in, he already knew the area was blocked off. 

Having saved himself from limping around, the wounded man inched closer to the fence that sectioned off the vocational block. He was about to reach for the door, when he finally heard the cracking of electricity and noticed small electrical sparks in a puddle near him. Eddie couldn’t muster up any strength to curse and get annoyed over the situation, so he simply turned on his heel and proceeded to stumble around the park. Another open door led him down a pathway and further down a few sets of stairs.   
Eddie opened the door, to what seemed to be some sort of basement. In hopes of turning the power off, on the electric fence or maybe advance in another way, Eddie stepped inside. However, he became a little hesitant, when he heard what sounded like a hushed voice and then complete silence. 

The doctor looked around the room for something to use as a weapon, but nothing was heavy or big enough. A little disheartened to continue on, Eddie took a few deep breaths and forced himself to go. His body still ached, every move was tiring, though new energy was found when he laid eyes on the the power switch.   
He moved towards it, in a confident yet aching manner. Almost reaching it, when stepped on a thin string. He would’ve not even noticed it, if it wasn’t for the few empty cans of food that suddenly dropped to the floor, creating a loud noise in the process. 

Some sort of trap ? The doctor wondered, but there was little time to think, when he suddenly felt a weight come down on his aching back. 

He growled, as the pressure on his wounds increased.

There wasn’t much fight left in the tall man. So it didn’t come as a surprise when his legs gave out in a matter of seconds. Dropping the camcorder once again, as he tried to get the arm around his neck loose. He squirmed and protested, gasping for air, until some plastic covered his nose and mouth. Within a few short breaths, some gas began to replace the clean air in his lungs.

Eddie wanted to fight. He did. But the shock and his aching body forced him to breath. Breath in more and more of that odorless gas, in an attempt to survive and not pass out, because he was denying his lungs the oxygen it so desperately craved.

When his eyes began to shut, Eddie knew it was over. His body began to go limp, the ability to fight off sleep, ceased to exist entirely. 

Strangely enough, it felt comforting, to have the lights go out just like that.

No more pain. 

Nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this took so long !   
> Next chapter will be a bit of crazy Waylon, P.o.v. !

**Author's Note:**

> Welp ! Ya made it this far ! I hope you were able to enjoy it :)


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